These days, hardly anyone can get away from public viewing unless they want to stay at home when the weather is nice. If you don’t watch the European Football Championship in a pack, you weren’t there. And anyone who publicly admits that they prefer to watch a Germany game at home on the couch or – even worse – not at all is quickly seen as a shy oddball who is best avoided. Not that they’ll start small talk with Musil or Sloterdijk (who the f…?) instead of Musiala and Schlotterbeck. There’s definitely no need for such mood killers in the current euphoria over two German group stage victories.
The question “Where do you watch football?” is currently asked more often than “How are you?”. Instead of “are you fine?” people say “beer garden” or “tavern” so as not to end up socially excluded, but at the same time they know that this is once again a huge mistake.
If you want a good seat with a view so that the game doesn’t become a mere radio play, you have to be there hours in advance. The big challenge is to pull yourself together while drinking beer so that the afternoon doesn’t turn into a knockout round before kick-off. Many a fan is said to have cheered for the wrong team because they no longer knew which way was up and which way was down. But it doesn’t matter: the main thing is a goal to toast to.
The alternative would be a reservation. The resourceful landlords at Nockherberg or Löwenbräukeller, for example, do what they do best: they charge Oktoberfest prices. They charge 230 euros for a table of ten, including ten beers and a snack board. But Munich residents who have been hardened by Oktoberfest don’t care about such prices. Just like at the Oktoberfest, people come to the public viewing dressed up, except that the Germany jersey replaces the traditional shirt and dirndl blouse.
The traditional Schland costume is also worn in offices during the European Championships. More and more companies are offering corporate viewings in their foyers after work. No team-building event in the world creates more solidarity among the workforce than when the boss falls off the bench drunk after the penalty shootout.
But even with a European Championship victory, there are limits: Anyone who ruffles the boss’s hair out of joy like Kimmich did to Neuer at the Hungary game could quickly be thrown out of the workplace.